


Candlelit Surprises

by specterling



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a good bf, Domestic, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hal getting excited over some candles? yes., Hal has adhd, M/M, TDC Unlucky 13, TDC Unlucky Thirteen 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27158683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specterling/pseuds/specterling
Summary: “Hal?” He called out, hoping to at least catch his attention. Hal didn’t even turn to him, just hummed. “What...what are you doing?”“Waiting for this to melt.” He said matter of factly, as if it was the clearest, most obvious, thing in the world. Bruce grunted.“I can see that, but why.” That wasn’t even a question, he just demanded some sort of explanation. Hal didn’t turn to him, but Bruce could tell he was getting annoyed. “I recall saying your credit card was for emergencies only.”"Listen, Bruce." Bruce crossed his arms, already tired. "This candle will give me rocks, if I wait. It's like, magical-- so shut up."
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 136
Collections: TDC's Unlucky Thirteen





	Candlelit Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Candles 
> 
> This is my first batlant fic that I post so I'm kinda anxious but!! yes. 
> 
> It's part of the Trans DC discord's countdown to Halloween: Unlucky Thirteen!! I'm very happy to be able to participate in it :') though this might be my only fic bc I'm kinda busy sdndhsjdh but that's alright.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!!

Hal arrived at the batcave earlier than usual. Ferris’ work hadn’t been that heavy that day, and Oa didn’t require his presence until...well, he didn’t remember. John would remind him later. He dissipated his suit and walked towards the stairs that lead to the manor proper. He should probably have some food...though a nap sounded tempting, too.

“Master Jordan, welcome home.” Alfred greeted with a smile. Hal waved at him and walked to the kitchen, where Alfred was preparing meals for everyone. “I have sandwiches at the ready for you, if you’d like to have some.”

Even though it was presented as an offer, Hal knew Alfred wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. “Sounds awesome, thanks Alfred.” 

The butler nodded. “Ah, right. Your packages arrived today.”

Hal didn’t remember ordering anythi-- oh. _Yes._

His eyes lit up, and tried to eat the sandwiches as fast as he could. Alfred let out a smile at his eagerness.

\---

It was about...two? In the morning. Everyone had retreated to their own rooms, after Alfred had made them eat something, and now the manor was quiet. Bruce himself was heading up to his room, having taken a shower and done some paperwork. He was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was sleep. 

A faint smell of chamomile and honey caught his attention as he walked up the stairs, getting stronger the closer he got to his room. It wasn’t unpleasant, he actually quite liked it, but he was confused as to _why_ said smell was there. 

He slowly opened the door to his room, not knowing what to expect--

Okay. Hal was there. That was...that was great. But then, then he noticed how he was practically surrounded on all sides by small boxes. He obviously knew there would be a candle there, but hadn’t thought Hal would be _staring_ at it like his life was on the line. The room was dark, too, the candle only illuminating things close to itself. Who knew what other things Hal had in there. 

He sighed as he walked further into the room, closing the door behind him. 

“Hal?” He called out, hoping to at least catch his attention. Hal didn’t even turn to him, just hummed. “What...what are you doing?”

“Waiting for this to melt.” He said matter of factly, as if it was the clearest, most obvious, thing in the world. Bruce grunted.

“I can see that, but _why.”_ That wasn’t even a question, he just demanded some sort of explanation. Hal didn’t turn to him, but Bruce could tell he was getting annoyed. “I recall saying your credit card was for emergencies only.”

" _Listen,_ Bruce." Bruce crossed his arms, already tired. "This candle will give me _rocks,_ if I wait. It's like, magical-- so shut up." 

Bruce turned to the boxes next to Hal, "so that's why you bought…20 of them?" 

"Yes." Hal responded easily. "Every candle is a surprise-- and they even come with stickers! You can't fault me for this." 

'At least he didn't light them up all at once…' Bruce thought. "Fine. How long will it take for it to melt?" 

"Um…" Hal looked away from the candle for a moment, picking up some sort of instruction paper that was next to him. "...A few hours." 

" _Hours?"_ Bruce repeated. He needed to sit down. So he did, behind Hal, on the bed. “That’s...well, I guess it will pay off.”

Luckily, there wasn’t anything on the bed-- it seemed like Hal had thrown his things on the floor just to open the candle as quickly as he could. His backpack, haphazardly placed next to the desk chair, was evidence of that. Bruce could admit it was endearing; he imagined Hal fumbling over himself in his excitement, using the ring to help him get to the room as soon as he could, and to carry all the candles efficiently. 

He couldn’t help but smile, and decided to play along. He was tired, but he imagined Hal was, too.

“What kind of...are they gemstones?” He asked, watching as Hal leaned dangerously close into the candle. Hal nodded, and returned to his previous position. Bruce would have to stay vigilant, in case Hal burnt his hair on accident. It wasn’t a stretch for him to think that, really.

“Yeah, mostly quartz. But I hope I get something cooler.” Hal grabbed some pliers, and poked the top of the candle. His eyes lit up as he saw the first bits of gemstone sticking out, submerged in melted wax. He still couldn’t pull them out, though, and that made him frown a little. Something blue, another yellow thing...wait, that wasn’t yellow. He hummed happily as he realized what color it was. “There’s something green in here! Maybe it’s an emerald.”

“Maybe.” Bruce agreed. He grabbed one of the boxes, analyzing it to pass the time. Zodiac themed candles, created with mostly natural ingredients. He hummed. The one he was holding was Pisces, and he assumed (by the colors, it was mostly green with yellow undertones) that the one Hal was currently staring at was Taurus. Was Hal getting into astrology? Possibly. Otherwise, he probably just enjoyed the idea of a mystery candle with _cool rocks_ as a prize for his patience. That was more plausible, now that Bruce thought of it. “How long have you been waiting for?”

  
Hal kept poking the candle. “About two hours.” He was too distracted by the green thing to respond any further. 

“Hal…” Bruce sighed. “These candles easily burn for a few days. I don’t think you’ll get those gems until tomorrow.” Hal huffed, but kept poking the candle, a tad petulant. “We should go to sleep--”

Suddenly, though, Hal thought of something and stopped.

He conjured up his lantern suit, and Bruce immediately knew he was about to do something stupid. “ _Hal,_ whatever you’re thinking--”

“I know what I’m doing.” He created a square shield around himself and the candle, conjuring a blowtorch in his hand at the same time. Bruce grunted, knowing he couldn’t do anything against Hal’s lantern constructs. So, instead he just decided to sit further back on the bed, watching in a deadpan manner as Hal ignited the torch to burn the candle faster. 

If Bruce could see Hal’s face, he’d see how determined he was. He needed those rocks _now._

\---

Bruce, after fifteen minutes had passed, decided to idly scroll through his phone. He was disappointed to find that Jason was tweeting at this hour of the night--

“ _There you are.”_ Hal whispered with a smile after some more minutes had passed, dissipating all constructs he’d made to instead focus on pulling out the green rock with the pliers. It was a miracle he hadn’t melted it-- he also, amazingly, sped through 20+ hours of waiting in about half an hour. Bruce would admit it was impressive, if it weren’t for the fact that it’d been incredibly dangerous. Hal didn’t care, though, all that mattered was that he was much closer to getting the thing he so desired.

Speaking of Bruce, he was now lying on his stomach on the bed, watching Hal intently. He’d also recorded a video of Hal forcibly melting the candle and sent it to the family group chat. Jason was infuriated at the fact that he hadn’t been invited.

Each second that passed, now that the melting was over, Bruce could tell Hal was getting more and more excited to retrieve his green rock. He seemed to be getting more and more _impatient_ , too, visibly struggling to proceed with his purpose. 

“Do you need help--” He tried to say, in an attempt to keep Hal from hurting himself (he hadn’t blown the candle’s flame off), but Hal abruptly turned to him with bright eyes and an even brighter smile. He was holding something in his hands, covering it with one of them, clearly waiting for Bruce to ask him what it was. With a sigh, he once again decided to play along. 

“Is that the emerald?” He asked, amused, pointing at Hal’s hands. 

Hal shook his head, though with how happy he was, it was a movement of his entire body; inciting a curious tilt of Bruce’s head. “It’s even better.” Hal replied quietly, looking from whatever was in his hands to Bruce and back.

With a nod, Bruce had raised his brow, he slowly revealed the gemstone, still smiling as brightly as before. Once Bruce could fully see it, he realized why Hal had been smiling so much. 

“Look at him.” Hal said, “he’s so _small.”_

It was a tiny emerald shaped frog, held in Hal’s trembling hand. It shone slightly, though that could be due to some of Hal’s influence. Bruce smiled back, happy that Hal was happy. “Are you going to name him?”

“He’s gonna be...Richard.” He affirmed, and Bruce couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sure Dick will be proud to share a name with him.” Bruce sat up and made space for Hal to lie down next to him, the latter holding the frog-- Richard, close to his chest. Before he fully settled down, he used the ring’s help, a construct of a candle lid, to extinguish the light. His eyes and Richard still glowed green, though, so they weren’t in complete darkness. 

“...Are you going to be holding Richard the entire night?” Bruce asked, slightly concerned. He wasn’t sure if sleeping with a gemstone between them would be a good idea--

“Nah. Richard wants to have his own space.” Hal said, placing said frog on the nightstand. He then turned to Bruce, his eyes now showing how tired he really was. He yawned and flopped down on the bed. “Do you think there’ll be more frogs in the other candles?”

“I’d hope so.” Bruce replied, “it would be a shame if they didn’t. Though, I don’t want you burning through them like this one.”

Hal laughed and snuggled into Bruce’s side. “No promises, spooky. Those frogs _will_ be mine _.”_

Bruce sighed and rolled his eyes, smiling. “You’ll let Jason help you, then? He was angry you didn’t ask him to join.”

“Totally-- wait, why does he--” He was shushed by Bruce hugging him tighter, and any conversation was left for some other time. 

Hal decided, though, that he’d light all the other candles at once out of sheer spite.


End file.
